Hui threw himself into the spell. He connected to the network of the spell formation, spreading his consciousness into the net. No longer did he stand atop Unrivaled Peak. Instead, he floated far above it, suspended in the filaments of the spell formation. Travelling along them, he reached down to the bottom, where rot qi suffused every single body lying on the ground. The souls hung in the balance, hovering slightly above their bodies, still unable to reconnect.

Now!

Life qi poured through the strands, soaring toward the bodies below. Hui’s own stores of life qi, plus Mount Mu’s, both rained down on the fallen sect. The rot qi resisted, seeking to corrupt the life qi, but Hui refused to let it. Wielding his death qi, he cut back the rot qi whenever it threatened to overwhelm the life qi, fighting to keep the balance tipped in the favor of the life qi.

Come on. Come on! It can work. It has to work! Hui grit his teeth and threw his all into it, forgetting everything but the battle before him, life and death qi versus rot qi.

The souls and bodies quavered, on the verge of combining. They slid back and forth, sometimes on the edge of overcoming the rot qi, sometimes entirely forced back by it.

Abruptly, rot qi gave out on one of the bodies. Life qi poured into it. The entire body filled with life qi, every piece of the soul reforming, every muscle and bone piecing back together, all the rot and putrefaction reversing. Hui pushed, forcing the soul down into the body. The soul fought with him, a nameless, shapeless force blocking their way.

Another barrier? Hui wrinkled his nose. He reached out, probing it. The aura of the Heavens hung thick around it, the barrier itself a fine-laced net that surrounded the cultivators’ bodies. Nothing could pass, except for life qi, but the souls wouldn’t move, not even a partial soul. Hui laughed to himself. Ah, I see. Is this, perhaps, the Heavenly Dao? Preventing the soul from reconnecting to its body. Well… this small Hui has an idea!

Hui reached out and grabbed the soul. Pushing his qi into it, he forcibly stilled the soul, shutting down all its processes, then wreathed it in an aura of death qi. Gently, he sent the soul toward the barrier.

The barrier stopped Hui from crossing, but the ‘dead’ soul slipped through, gently landing in its own body.

Grinning, Hui snapped his fingers. The soul woke up, and with a gasp, the cultivator sat up and looked around.

Ha! Playing dead is always the answer. Push through? Shatter the barriers? Not this Hui. Not when it’s so easy to get by them by pretending to conform to their requirements! Playing dead is the ultimate technique to unlocking death reversal!

Heavens, if you don’t mind, this small cultivator is going to defy you!

One after another, life qi overwhelmed rot qi. Each time, Hui darted to that cultivator and gently guided their soul through the barrier, settling it into their body. One after another, the cultivators of Starbound Sect woke up. Life qi poured from Mount Mu, so much that Hui’s passages and body began to burn from processing it. Heat built up inside him, too much to bear, then burst out all at once. Flames danced over his withering lotus body, but he paid it no mind, putting his all into completing the revival. This isn’t just about the sect. This is about my dao, my path, my method to defy this world. If I falter here, I falter in my dao. If I give up here, I cut off my own dao. Even if I die, I must complete this!

Mount Mu sent forth another pulse of life qi. Hui’s mind trembled under the force of it. He gave in, moving with the flow of the spell. His whole self became the spell, and the spell became him.

Hey, Healer, and the rest of you… take care of Bai Xue and our kid for me, okay?

Peak Lord’s body burned away. His consciousness flew into the spell.

There was a pause. Healer licked his lips. Uh, so who’s going to be our anchor to send Fen Long over to Starbound Sect so he can unlock Chen Wuya’s true form?

You? Rogue asked.

Healer shook his head. No, I—there’s something I must do. It can’t wait. Sectgoer! Send Ying Lin and Tang Fei to me, and hustle on over to Chen Wuya!

Eh? What about our weapons and my small army of disciples? Sectgoer asked.

The weapons are in our storage realm, and the disciples are just as indebted to me as to you. Go! Healer urged him.

Sectgoer sighed. Alright, alright. I’ll see you all in a bit!

Completely surrounding Starbound Sect, the sect burned gold, full of Hui’s will and consciousness. Mount Mu glowed, slowly diminishing in size as it poured out its life qi. Hui guided it down, and one by one, the Starbound Sect disciples stood up.

Xixing sat upright, rubbing her head. “What happened?”

Lying on the ground in the kitchen, Sis Mei opened her eyes. “Xiao Hui?”

At the top of Starbound Peak, Sectmaster Lan stood upright. He personally guided a weathered, discarnate soul into the living body of his son, but Lan Taijian did not open his eyes. Sectmaster Lan looked up. “Go. We’ll follow you.”

Mount Mu’s glow dimmed. The withered tree stood limply over Unrivaled Peak. The spell wound down. Motes of gold light danced down over the sect. Peak Lord watched them fall, stretching out a hand to touch them.

“I warned you. There are things you have set into motion now that you can no longer control. Consequences you cannot avoid,” the reaper said, drawing up alongside him.

“Mmm, I know. But you know, Elder Sister, one must walk one’s path to the end. No matter how many times I have to die along the way,” Hui said earnestly.

Frustrated, she shook her head. “You don’t understand. This is—”

Hui gave her a playful smile. “Elder Sister, will you take me? If you don’t move quickly, I might reverse my own death.”

The reaper stepped forward. “You couldn’t.”

“Not yet.”

She raised her sword. Peak Lord put his hand up. “Wait, wait.”

“No more tricks,” the reaper said.

“Elder Sister, what’s your name? Before, you told me Mamian, but… that’s a title, isn’t it? The title of one of the two reapers of the underworld. But it’s not your name,” Hui said, tilting his head.

“What would that do for you?” she asked, scoffing.

“So I’m right,” Hui said. He beamed.

She shook her head. “Come quietly. You’ve caused enough trouble.”

Hui nodded. “We’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted later, no?”

“That’s enough.” The reaper swung her sword.

--

The All-Heavens guards looked at one another, then at the newly-revived sect. The four or five of them darted off, fleeing rather than fight the full might of Starbound Sect.

Sectmaster Lan watched them go. He raised his hand. “Prepare for battle!”

From all the peaks, a great cheer went up.

Charging in the opposite direction, Sectgoer passed by the fleeing guards first. Zhi Ahn glanced at him, and Hui quietly shook his head. “Elder Brother, you and your friends should escape. You don’t want to be involved in what’s about to happen.”

Zhi Ahn’s eyes widened. He looked at Hui. “You—”

Hui darted by, leaving him behind.

Licking his lips, Zhi Ahn backed up. He glanced at Lu Lintei and Ding Qinwen, then nodded. “Understood.”

“Eh, did that friend of ours tell us to slack off? I can slack off,” Lu Lintei said.

“What’s that?” Ding Qinwen asked.

“Nothing, nothing. Er, we should fly more slowly. I think it’s a bit dangerous ahead,” Zhi Ahn said.

Ding Qinwen nodded. “Better safe than sorry!”

Reaching the sect, Sectgoer flew over to the opening to the sect’s hidden realm. Rogue, whenever you’re ready. At the same time, he reached into his storage space and threw out weapons and armor that his peak had forged. “Everyone, take this! You’re going to need it!”

The members of the sect darted up, catching weapons and armor out of the sky and equipping themselves. Hui grinned. This time, at least, we'll be overgeared. It won’t be the same as the first time!

“Who are you?” Sectmaster Lan asked.

Hui tore at the snakeskin on his face, revealing himself. “Weiheng Hui. We’re going to destroy All-Heavens Sect! Me, and all of you, and everyone else!”

Here he comes. Get ready!

Sectgoer’s energy suddenly drained away. He sagged in the sky. With some effort, he exerted enough qi to keep himself in the air. Damn, sending people through the network is no joke.

“It’s probably because I’m a relatively high realm,” Fen Long said. He looked around, then took a deep breath. “I forgot how beautiful this world could be.”

The crow on his shoulder pecked his ear. “What’re you doing, standing around for? Release me!”

“Yes, yes,” Fen Long said. He looked at Chen Wuya. “Are you sure you won’t—”

“Never. Let me out already,” Chen Wuya said, annoyed.

Sectmaster Lan looked at Hui. “This man… could he be?”

Hui nodded. “This is Fen Long, Patriarch of All-Heavens Sect. Ah… he’s on our side.”

“But… how?” Sectmaster Lan asked, confused.

“Much that I attempted, I failed at. It seems All-Heavens Sect can be considered amongst my failures. Now that I’m awake once more, it’s time for me to reassert myself over my sect,” Fen Long declared. He raised his hand and gripped the air. The world rippled.

On his shoulder, Chen Wuya stood on his tiptoes. “Yes. Come to me! My true form!”

A red-robed figure with ragged black hair fell out of the ripple in the sky. Chen Wuya leaped up, and from across the world, a thousand crows hurtled toward the body. One after another, they impacted into the figure’s chest. Black feathers flew.

“Welcome back,” Fen Long said fondly.

Chen Wuya straightened. Red light burned in the depths of his eyes. His hair fluttered like a thousand crows’ wings, the sharpness of his smile as brutal as the crows’ beaks.

“I’m back,” he said slowly, savoring the words.

Hui swallowed. Er, why do I feel like I’ve unsealed the Final Boss? Uh…

Oh well! It’s necessary. A necessary evil! Once we defeat Gui Delun, then we can talk about what we’re going to do with Chen Wuya.